If a lobster is taken out of the water, it will quickly become dehydrated and stressed, kind of like when we forget to drink enough water on a hot summer day. Their gills are designed to extract oxygen from water, not air, so they can't breathe like we do. It's like trying to run a car without gasoline - it just won't work!
However, lobsters can survive for short periods of time outside of water if they're kept in a cool, humid environment, like a sealed container filled with moist paper towels. It's similar to how we might keep a houseplant alive by watering it regularly - the lobster needs to stay moist to survive. But, this is only temporary, and they'll still need to be returned to their aquatic home eventually.
